The Return of A.J. Raffles: An Edwardian Comedy In Three Acts, Based Somewhat Loosely on E.W. Hornung's Characters In The Amateur Cracksman

by Graham Greene

This play produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company has as its chief characters A. J. Raffles, the literary creation some seventy odd years ago of E. W. Hornung. The cool daring of the impeccable Amateur Cracksman, always torn between the rival claims of burglary and cricket, ensured his popularity in Edwardian England. Evading the dogged pursuit of Inspector Mackenzie of Scotland Yard, Hornung's character eventually met a hero's death in South Africa in the Boer War. Graham Greene's The Return of A. J. Raffles begins some months after. Raffles' loyal assistant Bunny still mourns his friend's death in Raffles' chambers in Albany, despite the blandishments of Lord Alfred Douglas. A visitor forces his way in - Raffles has cheated death as he once cheated Inspector Mackenzie - and immediately Lord Alfred sees in the Amateur Cracksman and Bunny heaven-sent instruments to revenge and disgrace of Oscar Wilde on his odious father, the Marquess of Queensberry...Graham Green never fails to surprise and delight admirers of his comic genius, and the twists and turns of this story of Edwardian high life, when Raffles returns to the scene of his earlier triumphs, provide a richly satisfying entertainment.

Genres: Crime, Plays, Theatre, Humor, Drama, Queer, Fiction

92 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who the hell is AJ Raffles?

Albany, 1900’s. Lord Alfred Douglas and Bunny share a day in Victorian London, lamenting the unfortunate demise of AJ Raffles and the imprisonment and exile of Oscar Wilde. Lord Alfred wanting to plan a robbery and Bunny unwilling to do so after the death of his long time crime partner, AJ Raffles, legendary burglar and cricketer, who presumably died some time ago at the Boer Wars, but did he really?

This was a very quick, unique and strange book. Easy to read, sporadically funny, and an immensely curious thing. Never heard of AJ Raffles before, but apparently this weird character was originally created by E. W. Hornung, brother in law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as an antithesis to Sherlock Holmes; a genius cracksman and a gentleman thief. Graham Greene picking up where Hornung finished off the series, and bringing the infamous burglar and his sidekick Bunny back to life for a theater play. Since I’m reading the whole Sherlock Holmes series I found it inconceivably coincidental to find out about this curious character just at this particular moment of my life by mere chance of reading a used book, from all things. So now of course I feel I must take this as a sign and also read the four books of Hornung’s A.J. Raffles Gentleman Thief Series. Oh Gosh. As if I didn’t have enough homework already!

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1975] [252p] [Theater] [2.5] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★☆☆ The Third Man
★★★☆☆ Doctor Fischer of Geneva
★★★☆☆ The Return of A.J. Raffles [2.5]

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¿Quién demonios es AJ Raffles?

Albany, 1900s. Lord Alfred Douglas y Bunny comparten un día en la Londres Victoriana, lamentando la infortunada muerte de AJ Raffles y el encarcelamiento y exilio de Oscar Wilde. Lord Alfred queriendo planear un robo y Bunny reticente a hacerlo después de la muerte de su compañero de crimen de tanto tiempo, AJ Raffles, legendario ladrón y jugador de cricket, quien presumiblemente murió hace tiempo en la guerra de los Boers, ¿pero murió realmente?

Este fue un muy rápido, único y extraño libro. Fácil de leer, esporádicamente gracioso y una inmensamente curiosa cosa. Nunca había oído hablar de AJ Raffles antes, pero aparentemente este extraño personaje fue originalmente creado por E. W. Hornung, cuñado de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, como una antítesis de Sherlock Holmes; un genio y caballeroso ladrón. Graham Greene retomando donde Hornung terminó la serie, trayendo al infame ladrón y su compañero Bunny de vuelta a la vida para una obra de teatro. Ya que estoy leyendo toda la serie de Sherlock Holmes me pareció inconcebiblemente coincidente enterarme de este curioso personaje justo en este momento particular de mi vida por simple chance de leer un libro usado, para colmo de todo. Así que ahora por supuesto siento que debo tomar esto como una señal y leer los cuatro libros de Hornung y su serie de A.J. Raffles, el caballeroso ladrón. Ay dios. ¡Como si no tuviera ya suficiente tarea!

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1975] [252p] [Teatro] [2.5] [No Recomendable]
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[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quite amusing play with a rather clever plot and excellent characterisations was probably written when Greene was having a break from being political and having a go at some group or other. It's extremely dated and probably best enjoyed as a production by your local amateur dramatic company who will thoroughly enjoy hamming it up in pencil-thin moustaches and fake I say old boy haw-haw accents.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From TIA:
Raffles was a gentleman thief, invented by the early Edwardian author E W Hornung. Hornung killed off his creation by having him join the army and die fighting in the Boer War.

In 1975 however, Graham Greene decided that Raffles had faked his death and returned to England, to set out on one final crime with his friend Bunny. This is a radio adaptation of that play.

https://archive.org/details/ReturnOfA...

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read any of the Raffles stories (I haven't even seen the TV show), but I do occasionally read the slash fanfic when I come across one. And this is a slash fanfic! Well, a slash play. Written by Graham Greene! Writer of Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, ect. ect. Graham Greene! How's that for legitimate.

I listened to this as a radio play. I prefer hearing/seeing plays performed rather than reading them, but a couple of the voices grated on me. Bunny sounds so... old, honestly. Like, decades older than Raffles. And Bosie (as in Lord Alfred Douglas) sounded really... gay. Too gay. Like, thounded GAAay. Oh well. Anyway, the play itself is... okay. It covers the resurrection of A.J. Raffles (Raffles "dies" and returns from the dead, like Sherlock Holmes) and includes a little thievery caper, but only in about an hour worth of material. It feels rushed. It could just be that a radio play is the wrong format for it. But... yeah it feels like Greene got an image in his head of Bunny and Bosie sitting in an Edwardian drawing room musing on their fallen men (which is a fantastic image) and was like, okay I think I can fashion a play outta that. And all the other bits that are fashioned around that scene are rushed extras so the play isn't only about being all sad about boyfriends. But it kinda is.

[Cally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty and a nice addendum to the original Raffles books.

[Yorkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially a (rather strange) fanfiction, and tbh, I'm completely here for it. Bosie is a bit of an arsehole, as is his wont, and I'm 99.9% sure that Raffles and Bunny are now canonically a couple (though can we be sure they weren't that in the first place? Hornung's stories are pretty homoerotic).

Other highlights include the Prince of Wales giving Raffles suggestions of how to dispose of a corpse as well as telling him the best newspapers to lay out to prevent bloodstains on the carpet as if he's had cause to do so himself before (and all this occurs in front of the man they're proposing to kill. Honestly, that whole section is wild) and the Marquess of Queensberry falling through a roof and Bosie asking "hopefully" if he's dead. Oh, and also Raffles insisting that the same man they're about to kill removes his trousers before he's shot and then refusing to let him put them back on even when they've decided not to kill him after all.

I truly enjoyed every second of it, would absolutely recommend. I only wish I could see a staged version of it (although I suppose the radio adaptation will do for now).

[Zoe Kaplan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An extremely fun concept which unfortunately manages to fit more misogyny into three acts than old Hornung fit into three volumes.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graham Greene was hands-down a much better, more skilled writer than E.W. Hornungm (who created the Raffles character in 1899), and certainly this 1975 stage play is miles above Hornung’s own 1903 play. The Return has fun with the Raffles characters and borrows freely from some of the most popular of Hornung’s original stories. But it adds in some interesting twists on the relationships, including being more straightforward regarding the homosexual aspects of the cast. Also, the story includes some social and political comments, and features a few real-life personalities, e.g., The Marquess of Queensberry (he of the boxing rules), Oscar Wilde, and the Prince of Wales. An entertaining little play, and a special treat for those who already know Raffles’ world.

ALSO READ:
Hornung Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman: A Play in Four Acts (1903)
***
This is a classic turn-of-the-century stage play (1903 by Hornung with Eugene Presbrey). It may be the best Raffles story that Hornung himself authored. The limitations of the stage seemed to have brought out the best in his writing skills (or maybe it was Presbrey?). The story itself is a combination of the plots of a few of the Raffles short stories. It is amusing, the characters make a little more sense than the written Raffles characters, but it still maintains that Raffle-ly nature of the stories. So, not great literature, but a fun read. And the period nature of it makes it fun in itself.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this last play of Greene’s has to be characterized as in that infamous category: “You had to be there to get it.”
I suspect those British theatre goers of the time probably laughed unroariously at all the cute linguistic tricks, historic references, sly sexual innuendoes, witty repartee, allusions to Oscar Wilde and the wildly non-historical juxtaposition of so many characters: Lord Alfred Douglas (“Bosie”), his father, the Marquess of Queensberry, the Prince of Wales of England (“Bertie”), Captain von Blixen (later of Africa), and a handful of others.
Unfortunately for me, I have not read the novel, The Amateur Cracksman, by E. W. Hornung, about the “notorious and ever-popular” A. J. Raffles. But, if I understand the historical fiction, he was killed off by Hornung in South Africa in the Boer War. So, his sudden return from the dead in this Greene play was something of a feat of imagination. In the “Author’s Note” in both the U.K. and U.S. editions of the play, Greene says: “…I am prepared to defend the truth of Raffles’ return from South Africa alive….”
As I say, “you had to be there.” According to Greene’s bibliographers, Jon Wise and Mike Hill, the play was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London, beginning on 4 December 1975 with Denholm Elliott as Raffles. It ran for six weeks.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than most of the actual Raffles stories, but I wouldn't have if I hadn't read those stories and so knew the characters (and the number of times Raffles is thought dead but isn't).

As others have said, this is fan fiction -- someone loved the originals and wanted more, with various of the hints and allusions made more obvious (in a later era where they could be), plus a couple of crossover (Wilde's Bosie) and historical (Prince of Wales "Bertie") appearances to add to the fun.

A bit silly, a bit overly complicated, requires some knowledge of the references and period (both Raffles' and the time of writing), but a quick, light, fun read for me.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly entertaining and musing comedy of manners with a safe-cracking plot. A play that might indeed have been written in the Edwardian era, Greene conjures up the unlikeliest action and interactions without ever being less than entertaining. Some may object to the way gay characters are portrayed but this is a work from 1975 and never treats any of the characters as token or hackneyed.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun romp.

Favorite lines:
“Prison is like an act of God. It can happen to any man.” (27)

“Of course I’m afraid. Very much afraid. What poetry would be left in life if one couldn’t feel fear?” (35)

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good. Evidently Greene rally loved the character Raffles and wanted him to live on.

[Akiva ꙮ]

https://archive.org/details/ReturnOfA...

[Rachael Eyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the heck did I just read? Graham Greene writing glorified fan fic?

Really, it's not too shabby. A typical drawing room farce featuring practically every notable figure of the period, it may play fast and loose with historical facts (Queensbury died in January 1900) but has some pithy one liners. If you're a fan of either Raffles or Wilde, you'll enjoy this. Raffles/Bunny shippers will be delighted to see them canonically portrayed as a couple.

PS: In amongst the archness, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss it moment between a lady and her maid that's surprisingly touching. There's even a hint that the mistress may reciprocate. I have no idea whether Greene was a gay ally - probably not, with all that Catholic angst - but it's one of the few pieces of genuine sentiment in the show.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return of A. J. Raffles is a short but enjoyable play by the man who could write anything, Graham Greene. The plot of the play is a little complicated, too complicated to go in to here, but you’d expect nothing less from a play if you actually hope to enjoy it. Even reading it, you can imagine it coming to life on the stage.

[Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words cannot describe how much I love this play. It's fanfiction. I mean, denial of character death? Homoerotic subtext acknowledged? They know Oscar Wilde and Bosie? Pure fanfic. It's also very, very funny.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Return of A.J. Raffles: An Edwardian Comedy in Three Acts, Based Somewhat Loosely on E.W. Hornung's Characters in the Amateur Cracksman

First play of any kind that I have read since Shakespeare's Hamlet. Got a few laughs out of it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading all of Graham Greene's novels, I began to track down his plays. This was a fun one.